The Graduate School's On-Leave Policies
For information about the Graduate School's continuous enrollment and graduate leave policies, including eligibilty requirements, procedures for requesting leave, and reinstatement to the Graduate School, see Continuous Enrollment and On-Leave Policy.
Departmental On-Leave Policy
The Department of History normally grants on-leave status to graduate students in good standing who meet the Graduate School's eligibility requirements. Many students go on-leave during part of their dissertation research and writing--sometimes to undertake research off-campus, and sometimes to undertake professional employment elsewhere. This is certainly acceptable to the Department, provided it does not unduly extend the dissertation writing process. Leave will be limited to the quarters in which the student is engaged in full-time research/writing. Leave can also be granted in cases of students who need to be on leave for medical/health reasons.
The History Department will normally approve leaves for up to four consecutive quarters (summer included). If a student wants to extend leave into a second consecutive year, the Chair of the student's committee must confirm that the student is making satisfactory progress for each quarter that leave is requested in the second year before the leave request will be approved. A History graduate student can be on leave for a maximum of two years (eight consecutive quarters, summers included).
Because a student must be in good standing to be eligible to go on leave, the History Department does not normally approve leave for a student who has exceeded the Graduate School's limits on time to degree.
The History Department's deadline for submission of the leave request is the 10th class day of each quarter.
Reinstatement to the History Graduate Program
A History graduate student who lapses from the program at the PhC level (having completed everything except he dissertation) can apply for reinstatment to the program to defend the dissertation and complete the PhD degree. Before the History Department will approve the student's reinstatement, the student must have completed researching and writing the dissertation, the student's Reading Committee must have read and approved a complete draft of the entire dissertation, and the readers and GSR must have agreed to a specific day/time in a future quarter to hold the defense. A student will be reinstated for that one future quarter only, to defend and complete the degree. The History Department does not pay the reinstatement fee. Contact the History Graduate Office for more information.